The growth of fixed-price menus

I’ve been seeing more fixed-price menus crop up at restaurants recently and Pamela Busch, the owner of Cav, gave me the best explanation as to why. I mentioned yesterday that she was lowering her prices, but one thing I didn’t mention was that in addition to her regular menu, she is going to start offering a three-course menu for under $35 on Tuesday, the slowest night of the week.

How does this saves money, you might ask?

“You can sculpt the margins on fixed-price menus,” Busch says, “because you can set them up to be very efficient in terms of preparation, managing waste. Also, fixed-price dinners, if they are good values, bring diners in because they know exactly how much they’re going to spend.”

Personally I like fixed-price menus; it makes me feel as if the chef is taking care of me and offering a menu he or she can really stand behind. I say, bring them on.